the noise of a wind charger...

Wondering if anyone has a boat with a wind charger on it, or anyone who docks next to a boat that has one. Those rascals make some noise if you are in an area with any breeze at all. We have quite a few sailboats in our Marina and they seem to be ones who use them the most, it's not the nicest sound to hear all day and night. Just wondering...

Geessh, I don't want to sound like some ol curmudgeon

I've known boats' windmills to be completely annoying or silent. Presumably it depends on their manufacturer/design. There "should be a law" in marinas eliminating the use of annoying windmills.

Many of the newer wind turbines are VERY quiet.

Here's a good example of a new generation wind turbine:

Small Wind Turbines | Silentwind - Wind Generators

roguewave said:

Wondering if anyone has a boat with a wind charger on it, or anyone who docks next to a boat that has one. Those rascals make some noise if you are in an area with any breeze at all. We have quite a few sailboats in our Marina and they seem to be ones who use them the most, it's not the nicest sound to hear all day and night. Just wondering...

Geessh, I don't want to sound like some ol curmudgeon

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The later designs are pretty quiet. Here's my Airbreeze at full chat. I seriously doubt it would bother any boat the normal anchoring safe distance away. This was recorded on my iPhone from directly below it, and is the actual sound and volume. The strobe effect bends the blades, they are not actually bent, I assure y'all.

The noise complaints have been endless , so the newest units are built for the least noise.

Some oldies can be refitted to keep down the sound.

I believe that you can turn it to a "free wheel" setting and eliminate the noise. I hought they only made noise if under load while charging?

There's a boat on a mooring next to mine with a windmill and while it certainly makes some noise, I don't find it objectionable. The sound is a bit like a slightly raspy whirring noise. I have often wondered what it sounds like *inside* that boat. Depending on the mounting and frequency, I can imagine its possible a lot of sound is telegraphed inside.

The boat is typically 75' away from me. If it was the next boat in a slip I might have a very different opinion.

Ken

Our sailboat had an older version of Peter B's Airbreeze shown above. It drove us crazy with the noise on a multi-year trip. I am sure they are much improved now but you are correct in putting noise and vibration at the very top of your list of selection items

We have two noisy ones on our pier. They are plugged into shore power so this makes no sense to me. Can you lock these to where they don't spin?

Greetings,
AND tie down your clanging ropes!

dimer2 said:

Can you lock these to where they don't spin?

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Something like this should work

Peter B said:

The later designs are pretty quiet. Here's my Airbreeze at full chat. I seriously doubt it would bother any boat the normal anchoring safe distance away. This was recorded on my iPhone from directly below it, and is the actual sound and volume. The strobe effect bends the blades, they are not actually bent, I assure y'all.

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My Airbreeze was selected five years ago based on its low sound level. Some of the newer models are even quieter. I used a little psychology in selecting the Airbreeze. Put the Admiral in the dinghy and we motored around the anchorage until she found a wind generator of which she was happy. Bought the same model.

Craig, that looks perfect to me

Here's a short video from the Silentwind link above, showing the difference between their rotor blades and noisy ones. If legitimate, the difference is amazing...

"Here's a short video from the Silentwind link above, showing the difference between their rotor blades and noisy ones. If legitimate, the difference is amazing..."


Now that wouldn't bother me at all. Actually, when anchored out they don't really bother me but why would they 'run' them in a marina?

That should be rule in any marina, no running wind generators. I believe some can stopped by shorting the output.

A neighbor of ours back when we kept our boat in Santa Barbara kept complaining that someone kept throwing a line into the windbugger he left unattended and running for weeks at a time.

He finally figured out to tie it off when he was not around.. luckily before someone ran out of spare sacrificial line to toss into the damn noisy thing.

We installed one when we went cruising and I never left it un feathered when we were away or on the dock.. damn thing drove us nuts.. luckily the ice cubes it produced made the drinks cold that made it bearable.

HOLLYWOOD

dimer2 said:

Now that wouldn't bother me at all. Actually, when anchored out they don't really bother me but why would they 'run' them in a marina?

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This depends upon the amount the marina charges for electricity. In particular in the Caribbean you can easily pay $1.10 US per kilowatt. The electricity bill can be as much as the docking charge.

In a marina we run the refrigeration and the water heater off shore power and the remainder off the boat off the wind generator and shore panels. Frequenty during the day when the solar power is pumping out amps we turn off the shore power entirely.

Fortunately, my periodic berth neighbor (Vagari) which makes seasonal long-range voyages, has a completely silent windmill generator.

markpierce said:

Fortunately, my periodic berth neighbor (Vagari) which makes seasonal long-range voyages, has a completely silent windmill generator.

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Do you remember what brand (and model) it is?

MurrayM said:

Do you remember what brand (and model) it is?

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No. Never scrutinized the unit closely.

I'm going to be at the marina (three slips from Mark) tomorrow or Tuesday. I'll try to remember to take a look and report back.

Giggitoni said:

I'm going to be at the marina (three slips from Mark) tomorrow or Tuesday. I'll try to remember to take a look and report back.

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Thanks

Real world test results of several popular wind turbines:

Air X Marine long term test

Synopsis of results:

Achievement
Winner in all winds: Silentwind (Spreco)
Winner wind < 20 knots: Air Breeze with blue Spreco Air blades
Winner wind > 20 knots: Silentwind (Spreco)

BobH said:

That should be rule in any marina, no running wind generators. I believe some can stopped by shorting the output.

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They all have what is caused a 'brake' mode, whereby the switch is moved to a position which feeds the power generated back into the unit and acts as a brake. In this mode they are virtually silent, and most marinas insist they are placed in this mode when the vessel is berthed. As pointed out by others, there is seldom need to run them if on shore power charging. They can also have their blades tied down to stop all rotation, a tactic encouraged if to be left untended long periods or if very high winds are predicted.

MurrayM said:

Do you remember what brand (and model) it is?

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I think it's an Aerogen...?

Aerogen LVM 412 12Volt 72Watt Wind Turbine [AeroLVM-412] : Solar power : - Energy Matters Australia

According to the real world test results I posted above the Aero6Gen was one of the top three for being the noisiest of all the wind turbines they tested (they tested 10 different models).

Diesel Duck 492 said:

According to the real world test results I posted above the Aero6Gen was one of the top three for being the noisiest of all the wind turbines they tested for noise (they tested 10 different models).

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I could be wrong. The photo pic was far away and detail difficult to make out. It did look like the Aerogen thought in terms of more than 3 blades. However, there are others like that. Maybe Aerogen have solved the noise issue like most of the others, as it was and still is the main bugbear really. They all work.

Several wind turbine manufacturers, including SilentWind, are using the "Spreco" blades which, from all reports I've read, appear to be one of the quietest blades on the market today.

Yes, I believe those blue Spreco blades can be a retrofit to my Airbreeze, but its noise does not bother us at all, so, until they need replacing...